STATUTE
LAW (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) BILL 1999 - Addendum to The
Law Society's Property Committee's Submissions dated 3 March
2000
The Law Society's
Property Committee wishes to supplement its paper dated
3 March 2000 on the Bill as follows:
- In the earlier Submissions,
the Committee examined the existing relief available to
mortgagors to tackle problems associated with old, outdated
mortgages that have not yet been formally discharged.
This involves taking proceedings against the mortgagee
and seeking a declaration that the mortgage is time no
longer subsisting or capable of taking effect on the basis
that the mortgagee is time barred under Sections 7 &
19 of the Limitation Ordinance ("LO").
- The Committee has expressed doubt in paragraph B4 of
its paper on the availability of such relief in cases
where no repayment date is specified in the relevant mortgage.
S.19 of the L.O. states that "No action shall be brought
to recover any principal sum of money secured by a mortgage
or other charge on property, or to recover proceeds of
the sale of land, after the expiration of 12 years from
the date when the right to receive the money accrued".
If there were no specified repayment date, when the right
to receive the money accrues and thus the limitation period
starts to run will be unclear.
-
The Committee has subsequently come across a relevant
decision in Yeung Kong v. Wong Pak Chaw HCMP No. 1305/98.
In that case, it was decided that a right to receive
the money under S.19 accrued and hence time began to
run against the mortgagee under that section, as soon
as the loan was made.
The Property Committee
The Law Society of Hong Kong
17 March 2000
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